Gasaraki - Betrayal (Vol. 3)

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Gasaraki ranks among the most complicated anime series, which may be why viewers either love or hate it, with little middle ground. Kazukiyo Gowa plots with Mr. Nishida, the fanatic head of a sect dedicated to purifying a Japan he regards as so corrupt that he blinded himself with a samurai sword to keep from seeing it. Yushiro is taken from his army unit, which is then used in dangerous experiments with the mecha TA's. Miharu taps into the Gowa Labs data banks and discovers Yushiro Gowa died eight years ago. Yushiro greets this revelation with an understated, "I'm dead?" When he asks his icy mother who he is, she sends him to Noh master Sorachi. In an ancient storehouse, they find a gargantuan mobile suit, "a Kugai--a gift from Gasaraki which can be operated only by a Kai." Sorachi declares Yushiro and Miharu are linked by the "Monoyose Kai bloodline," and sends them to the mountains south of Kyoto to learn who--and what--they are. Director Ryusuke Takahashi struggles to move all these stories along, but the result is like watching a juggler trying to keep one ball too many in the air. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up for violence, largely restricted to machine versus machine, and occasional profanity. --Charles Solomon

Description

The battle moves to Japan as the T.A. team members find themselves prisoners in their own country. As opposing forces in the government tear each other to shreds, the Gowas make plans to exploit their new discoveries. But the Symbol strike teams are already in motion. Yushiro's past and future collide as a shocking revelation strips him of both his soul and identity in the third shocking volume of "Gasaraki."

Customer Reviews:

Stop dancing or you will unleash the terror.......2001-11-25

This series has the odd effect of not making any sense but yet still compelling to watch. Although some interesting things are answered on this DVD it asks far more than it answers. But the characters are starting to get deeper and not so wooden. The conspiracies are thick and nothing is what it appears. A healthy dose of mystery wraped in a large metal skin.

This might be telling!.......2001-11-09

The show begins to make sense and what sense!Yushiro sees why his family is weird and how weird cannot be described here in just one review.The KUGAI rocks and there are more from what is shown and the whole imperial angle promises to be a shocker in later episodes.It makes sense from my angle anyway,the mechs look beliavable now knowing the facts.Just WATCH the show, draw your own conclusions!!

The truth is revealed.......2001-03-04

After some complications, the TA team returns to Japan. The TA staff are put into quarentine while Gowa is held at another building. Meanwhile, Kazukiyo meets with a man who wants to change Japan in three years. While Captain Ataka sneaks out of quarentine, Symbol attempts to get back the TA sample with two Fakes. One is piloted by Miharu. The other TA pilot steels the sample while Miharu checks the data files on Yushiro. Two names come up. One is Yushiro's current status, alive and well, while the other says that Yushiro died 8 years ago. Miharu runs into Yushiro and tells him this. Filled with mixed feelings, Yushiro runs to the shrine to meet his master and find out the truth while Captain Ataka helps Misuzu (Yushiro's little sister) find him. While at the shrine, Yushiro finds bodies of those who tried to summon Gasaraki a while back and Yushiro discovers the fabled Kugai warrior. The two TA's from Symbol show up at the shrine to find more info. Miharu finds Yushiro next to the Kugai and tells him to get away. But before he can, his mind goes warped, he does the dance of Gasarak and gets inside the Kugai. An Evangelion style battle ensues and I must say that the Kugai is very impressive. It has a massive sword and even though it never gets to use it, the Kugai is still pretty cool. It rips apart the two Fakes like they're nothing. The last episode ends with the TA team trying out a new drug which drove one of the four pilots who are testing it to go insane. This volume doesn't have a lot of action, but the last episode should please everyone. If you don't understand some of the topics, the DVD includes a glossary and episode sheets to help you understand. The director interview was pretty good with discussing mecha anime, but the real treat is the behind the scenes feature. We get a 6 minute video of the dub voice actress who plays Miharu working on the show. Its very fun to watch and I hope ADV can put other voice actors on in more volumes to come. One little thing that I think is odd is that the Fakes get the spotlight on this volume and everyone calls them Beligstanian TAs. Anyway, an extremely well done DVD that will aplease any fan of the series. Get it and be amazed at its glory.

The story continues..........2001-02-22

This DVD has some extras like a cut scene from an actual dubbing booth of one of the female leads which is interesting to see how they do it. The menus are really cool as usual and this DVD contains 3 episodes. These 3 episodes contain little in the way of mech combat but we get to find out what the Gasaraki is! Let me just say that it rules. The story for this series is really starting to take shape and I think this series is going to be a classic. If you liked the first 2 DVDs or if your looking into a new series to get into after Macross and Gundam W, this is a great choice. I love this infinitely more than the Gundam series, it uses the same art house, and the guy who writes the story is the guy who wrote Patlabor, another classic anime. This DVD is superb in quality, great digital transfer and one of the few good Dub jobs out there if you want it dubbed, both are available on each DVD of course.

Okay, I'm officially addicted now!.......2001-02-18

I bought the first tape of that series on a whim, because I loved the desing. The characters look good and the mechas have a realistic, gritty edge to them. I was a bit dispointed by the slow pace and the cold characters but I felt the series had potential, so I kept following it.

And boy was I right! The second tape had a great story, a blend of Tom Clancy and Shinto mysticism, realistic and tension inducing. The good guys and the bad guys were not what they seemed, and the world was in constant flux.

The third tape becomes more mystical as Yoshiro, the main character, discovers that most of what he knows are lies. Faction continue to pop up and jockey for power, and you get the impression the world's going to hell. The show is very creative, you'll see TAs do things you'd never think about, and the plot moves so quickly you'll probably have to see it twice to get the nuances.

So all in all, it's great! You also get to see one of the creepiest mecha of all time...

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